Can I Take a Message?

Individuals were unwittingly implicated in this provocative project, which facilitated direct interaction between First World inhabitants and a low-wage worker in Southeast Asia. The project thus involved outsourcing, at a rate of three dollars per day, all of the curators’ incoming calls to a Manila-based woman named Chilette, who was also commissioned to document her daily routine when she was not answering the phone.

Thoughts

Thoughts

Upon answering, Chilette not only announced that she would gladly forward all messages, but she also revealed—by reading from a script written by the curators—her low daily rate.

Chilette then offered to either engage in a conversation about the project with the surprised caller or perform additional work at the caller’s request (anything from performing research to creating artworks for artists on the other end of the line), all on the curators’ dime.

The protocols of the calls have not been published so far.

Information

Information

The project took place from December 19th to 27th, 2014.